TURNER, George Wilson
| Service Number: | 3603 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 11 August 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Anzac Salvage Section |
| Born: | Westbury,Tasmania, Australia, 20 November 1895 |
| Home Town: | King Island, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Stock rider |
| Died: | King Island, Tasmania, Australia, 1967, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Currie Public Cemetery, King Island, Tasmania |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 11 Aug 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3603, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 27 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3603, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 27 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3603, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 10 Jan 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 1st Anzac Salvage Section | |
| 16 Sep 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 3603, 1st Anzac Salvage Section, GSW to face (multiple, severe) | |
| 10 Apr 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3603, 1st Anzac Salvage Section, embarked England for RTA on board HT Medic | |
| 7 Aug 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3603, 1st Anzac Salvage Section |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private George Wilson Turner (Service No:3603) enlisted in the AIF at Claremont, Tasmania on 11 August 1915 and was attached to 15th Infantry Battalion when he embarked with his Unit from Melbourne for Egypt on 21 October 1915 on board HMAT A38 Ulysses. Private Turner was in France when he transferred to 1st Australian Salvage Corps on 10 January 1917 and was WiA on 16 September 1917. Evacuated to England with multiple, severe GSW to his face and eye, Private Turner underwent facial reconstruction surgery at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup before embarking from England for the RTA on 10 April 1919 on board HT Medic. Private Turner was Discharged on 7 August 1919. Three older siblings - Charles, and Frank and Lionel (both KiA) - also served in WWI.
George was born in Westbury, Tasmania in 1895, tenth of eleven children of John Charles Turner (b1852 at Port Fairy, Victoria) and Sarah Elizabeth Smith (b1853 in New Norfolk, Tasmania). John (a Labourer) and Sarah (a Dressmaker) married in 1877 in Longford, Tasmania and lived in Carrick, Westbury, Rosedale and Launceston where John was a Labourer. By 1919 they had moved to Melbourne, Victoria where John worked as a Cook.
George was a member of the King Island Rifle Club and a Stock Rider on King Island, Tasmania in 1915 when he enlisted in the AIF. Following his Discharge in 1919, George returned to King Island where he worked as a Labourer and Groundsman. In 1920 he applied for dairy farming land under The Returned Soldiers' Settlement Act 1916. In Melbourne in 1936, George married Eva Grace Cochrane (nee Hill; b1893 in Melbourne, Victoria). George and Eva settled on King Island where George worked for the Department of Civial Aviation as a Senior Groundsman and bred pheasants. George died in 1967 and Eva in 1979.
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